Stage scenery dolly



W. M. BASSETT Jan. 10, 1939.

STAGE scENERY DOLLY Filed Feb. 14, 1958 Patented Jan. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES TENT UFFICI?.

STAGE SCENERY DOLLY William M. Bassett, Stanford University, Calif. Application February 14, 1938, Serial No. 190,449 l Claims. (Cl. 272-21) This invention relates to stage scenery and has dolly then being partially off its rollers and for its object the provision 'of means for easy weighted, functions as an anchor for rigidly holdhandling and arranging of the so-called scenery ing the flat in position with lower edge subiats or large lat frames which are covered on Stantially on the floor. Also the dolly base frame one side with canvas upon which the scenery is is mitred oli at about 45 degrees to permit two of 5 painted. them to be placed at right angles and bring the A particular object of the invention is the protwo vertical edges of the flats carried by them in vision of a specially wheeled dolly adapted for contact with the scenes extending at right angles, supporting a large at in upright position for or less if desired.

rolling about on the stage, and arranged to iunc- The dolly frame may be made of wood or iron, 10 tion as an anchor for holding the flat vertical in but is indicated in the drawing as made of wood the desired iinal position. and counter-balanced with heavy weights, as of A further object is to provide the special dollies iron or concrete, to keep it from upsetting when of such form that they may be placed close torolling the tall scene frames or flats about, as well gether at right angles or less to join the edges of as to more securely anchor them in place when 15 adjacent flats at right angles or less. Another the front edge of the dolly is lowered from its feature is the provision of means to lock the flats rollers to the stage floor.

to the dollies respectively. Other advantages of In the drawing the dolly comprises a lower or the invention will appear in the following descriphorizontal base frame of spaced front and rear tion and accompanying drawing. members I, 2, joined by end members 3 which 20 In the drawing: preferably extend at about a forty-live degree Figure l is a rear elevation of the special dolly angle rearwardly from the front member I as with the lower portion of a ilat dotted in posishown in Figure 4, so that two such base frames tion. may be placed adjacent one another at right Figure 2 is an end View of the dolly. angles as shown in Figure 4, and wherein a por- 25 Figure 3 is an end view of the dolly similar tion only of the second base frame is shown and to that of Figure 2, but showing the front edge designated with the above numerals primed. of the dolly lowered to the iior to bring the flat At the forward edge of the base frame is an upvertical and anchor it against movement. right frame composed of two side members 4,

Figure 4 is a plan view of one of my dollies lower cross member 5, and upper cross member 30 with a portion of a similar dolly arranged at right G, braced against the base member by two angular angles in mitred relation and showing two ats braces l'. The base frame is supported on a set joined at right angles along their vertical edges. of rear rollers or casters 8, and a front pair of Figure 5 is an enlarged Vertical end view of the casters 3, the latter pair of casters being secured flat showing its engaged relation to the dolly. to the horizontally extending board I which is 35 Figure 6 is a similar view to that of Figure 5, hinged at It to horizontally extending board 5, showing the ilat detached from the dolly. so that the horizontal board I which carries the Figure 7 shows a preferred type of hooking rollers may be swung upwardly on these hinges member for holding the flat to the upper rail of to permit the forward part of the dolly frame to 40 the dolly. come down against the floor without roller sup- 40 Figure 8 is an enlarged plan View of a portion port. To operate the hinged board I in this manof the upper rail of the dolly to show its extendible ner it is provided with a lever taking the form provisions. of a short board II pivotally secured to board I Figure 9 is a reduced Size plan view of a modias by a through bolt I2 at one end, and normally fied form of the dolly base frame. locked at the other end against board 2 by an 45 Figure l0 is a reduced size plan view of a further overhanging cleat or arm I3 secured to board 2, modification in the form of the dolly base frame. or in a manner so that the rear end of the lever Briefly described, the invention may be said il may be moved laterally from under the ento be a special weighted roller dolly frame progagement with the latching member I3, and then vided with means for engaging a large scenery lifted in an arc to the position shown in Figure 3 50 flat from th@ IOWEI edge and back and SllpPOT'Hg so as to carry the rollers 9 away from the oor it in upright position for rolling about, and prosupport and permit the forward edge of the dolly vided with means for lowering the front edge of frame to rest on the floor as shown in said ligure, f the dolly frame from its rollers to the stage floor and with the iront side of the frame standing perto bring the frame to vertical position,4 and the ectly Vertical as shown in said gure. 55

In order to raise the dolly on its rolling support again it is required that the lever Il be pushed downwardly again and hooked under the latching member I3 as indicated in Figures 4 and 2 so that the front side of the dolly will be elevated on the rollers 9, and when in this latter position the front side of the dolly frame will not be vertical but will be tipped rearwardly as shown in Figure 2, so that if a scenery flat were supported along the front side of the dolly frame it would lean backward to bring its weight more over the frame and make it less liable to tip forward than if it were vertically supported.

At the lower forward edge of the dolly frame are several sheet metal projecting arms or hooks I4 adapted to receive the lower edge of one of the scenery flats I5 so that the latter may lie against the front part of the frame very much like a picture lies against an easel, and in order to prevent the at from falling forwardly, it is retained in position by a sheet metal hook member I6 secured to opposite vertical edges of the rear side thereof, and which sheet metal hooks engage over the upper edge of an angle iron or rail l1 secured to the upper transverse member 6 of the dolly frame. The manner of hooking the at frame to the forward side of the dolly frame as abo-ve described is clearly shown in Figure 5, wherein the designated members will be found easily. In Figure 6 the flat frame is shown detached from the front side of the dolly frame to better illustrate the action.

It will be noted from Figure 2 that were the at frame in position on the dolly frame when the latter is on its rollers, the flat frame would tip backward on top as explained, but that when lowered to the position of Figure 3, the hat frame would be vertical. However, instead of using an upper hook as shown at I6 to hold the at frame onto the upper rail Il, a hook as shown in Figure 7 may be used. In this figure the flat frame is indicated at E5, as before, but the hook is designated I6 and is shown to be a flat strap of metal pivoted at I8 by a horizontal pin or bolt through the edge of one of the Vertical members of the iiat frame so that it can swing along the dotted arc indicated in Figure '7 to a vertical position within the thickness of the ilat frame, or outwardly to the full line position shown in this gure, and wherein it will be seen to have two notches in its under side designated I9 and 20, and either of which notches may be hooked over the upper edge of the rail Il so that if it were hooked in the notch I9, it would only be vertical when the front edge of the dolly frame was lowered, but if hooked into notch 28 it would be vertical even if the front edge of the dolly frame were not lowered, oi'A if similar roller raising means as applied to rollers S were applied to both sets of rollers and the dolly frame permitted to bodily descend to the stage floor.

Since the sceneryframes are very large and high and inclined to be quite top heavy, and it is desirable that the dolly frame remain as narrow as possible, recourse is had to heavy weights 2 l, 22 and 23, which are conveniently positioned and secured about the dolly base frame to hold the same down rmly against any tipping over by the scene frame or flat in rolling the dolly and at about, or when nally positioned in the desired place by lowering the front or the entire dolly frame to the stage iloor as explained.

It is desirable that the horizontal members 5 and S of the upright portion of the dolly frame be almost as long as the width of the scenery flat,

or about an inch or two shorter, and since these ilats are generallymade to standard sizes, the dolly frames may so be made accordingly. However, it is sometimes desirable to have the upper and lower horizontal members 5 and 6 extendible to meet diiTerent widths of scenery frames, or merely the upper rail i1 so that it will give an adequate support against the back of the two vertical side members of the scenery frame or flat; thus, as indicated in Figure 1, the rail Il is shown divided in the center at 24 to form two sections H and il", each of which may be bolted to the upper horizontal member 6 of the upright frame as by bolts 25 passing through slots 26 in the rail Il as indicated in Figure 8 of the drawing, and wherein a washer 2l is shown positioned beneath the bolt head. This provides for releasing the bolts and pulling out the rail sections to any desired length so that the hooks I6 or I6' on the scenery ilat or frame will engage over them properly.

The dolly frame is mitred rearwardly as explained so that it may be placed at a right angle to an adjacent frame as shown in Figure 4, to form a right angle with the scenery iiats carried by the two frames as indicated in said figure, and wherein the scenery flats are respectively designated l5 and i5. When the two dolly frames are in this position and lowered to the stage oor as described, they will be relatively rigid and generally suiciently so to hold the scenery in place for the show. However, if desired, the two dolly frames may be lashed together as by a rope 28 wrapped around a couple of rope cleats 29, secured to the adjacent members 3 and 3 of the dolly frames, as indicated in Figure 4.

It is, of course, manifest that where it is not desired to join any of these scene frames at right angles as indicated in Figure 4, the base frame of the dolly may be rectangular as shown in Figure l0, at 3U, or in some cases it may have but one end mitred as at 3l, in Figure 9, and with the other end left at right angles as shown at 32 in this gure, thus forming in the latter case a base frame with one right-angled end and one mitred end so that when two are placed with right angle ends together they will form a frame of the general shape shown in Figure 4 with the mitres at the extreme ends of the assemblage.

It is also evident that instead of having the ends of the frame mitred at 45 degrees as shown in the preferred form, Figure 4, the mitre may be at any other angle desired, though for regular stage use the form shown in Figure 4 appears to meet every requirement insofar as I have been able to nd in practical use of these devices in stage scenery at shifting and assembling.

While I prefer the type of hooks shown in Figure 7 to hold the upper part of the iiats to the rail il as they fold within the thickness of the frame when not in use, and permit the scenery flats to be stacked ilat upon one another for shipment without protruding parts, the hooks` l shown in Figures 5 and 6 are also very good, and in some cases where scenery may not lbe provided with either style of hook, in an emergency the scenery at may be lightly nailed to the upper transverse member 6, as with light finishing nails which may be removed readily.

The lower arms or brackets if: which support the lower edge of the ats may be as thin as one-eighth inch steel plate of several inches in width, and hence when the forward edge of dolly frame is dropped to the door, the lower edge of the scenery fla-t also is substantially tight against the floor.

In considering the invention as above described, it will be seen that it provides for quickly rolling the various scene ilats to position and locking them securely in place, and for as quickly removing them and rolling them out of the Way, and if desired leaving them each attached to one of the dollies until shipment to some other town. Thus the scenery may be changed for different shows in one evening, or for different evenings successively Without ever removing the scenery ats from their respective dollies until the engagement is over. This invention, therefore, permits one man to roll the scenes about no matter how large and clumsy they are, and to accomplish more work in a given space of time than several men could possibly do by the old method which required bodily carrying the scenes to the required position, moving them from place to place until they were just right, and then tacking them lightly to the iloor with nails and supporting them by angular braces from behind also generally nailed to the flat and to the ooring, and all of which nails had to be pulled out and braces removed at the end of every act in order to shift the scenes.

It is evident in considering the above invention that various modications may be made to the structure without departing from the spirit of the invention as sought to be embraced within the scope of the appended claims, and that the dolly frames may be of all sizes and constructed of any desired materials. Also the rollers may be of any size and may be rubber-tired or of felt or solid rubber if desired, to eliminate noise in rolling the scenes about, and also that the precise mechanism for raising or lowering the rollers is optional, though the construction shown is preferred on account of its simplicity and low cost.

Having thus described my invention and the manner of its use, together with some if its variations, what I claim is:

1. A device for handling stage scenery ilats comprising a dolly provided with an upright frame and a base, rollers under said base, means for holding the flat adjacent said upright frame with the ilat vertical, the base of said dolly when viewed in plan being mitred off at one end to join a similar dolly arranged at an angle thereto.

2. A device for handling stage scenery flats comprising a dolly provided with an upright frame and a base, rollers under said base, means for holding the flat adjacent said upright frame With the at vertical, the base of said dolly when viewed in plan being mitred off at both ends to join a similar dolly arranged at an angle thereto.

3. A device for handling stage scenery flats comprising a dolly provided with an upright frame and a base, rollers under said base, means for holding the nat adjacent said upright frame with the flat vertical, the base of said dolly when viewed in plan being mitred oi at both ends to join a similar dolly arranged at an angle thereto, and provided with means for securing adjacent dollies together.

4. A dolly for handling stage scenery-hats comprising a horizontal base provided with an upright frame at one edge, a plurality of spaced floor casters on said base supporting the dolly for rolling about, means arranged and adapted for detachably holding a stage scenery-flat upright on said dolly adjacent said upright frame and with the lower edge of the iiat adjacent but clear oi the floor, and means weighting the rear of said dolly against toppling with a iall flat.

5. A device for handling stage scenery :flats comprising a dolly provided with an upright frame and a base, a plurality of spaced floor rollers under said base supporting the dolly against tipping, means for holding the flat on the dolly adjacent the iront side of said upright frame with the ilat tipped backward from the vertical, and means for tipping the flat to bring the same to vertical position for use in stage settings.

6. A device for handling stage scenery ilats comprising a dolly provided with an upright frame and a base, a plurality of spaced floor rollers under said base, means for holding thescenery flat on said dolly adjacent the front side of said upright frame with the flat tipped backward from the vertical, and means for tipping the dolly to bring the secenery flat to vertical position and block the dolly against rolling action.

7. A device for handling stage scenery flats comprising a dolly provided with an upright frame and a base, a plurality of spaced floor rollers under said base, means for holding the scenery ilat on said dolly adjacent the front side of said upright frame with the at tipped backward from the vertical, and means for tipping the dolly to bring the scenery flat to vertical position and block the dolly against rolling action, the base of said dolly provided with weights to prevent the same from toppling with a tall ilat.

8. A dolly for handling stage scenery flats in upright position comprising a base frame with an upright rearwardly slanted frame at one edge, means for supporting a ilat against the front of the upright frame, a plurality of spaced floor rollers on the base frame supporting the dolly against tipping, and means for lowering the front of the frame from the rollers to the floor to rest thereagainst and in which latter position the upright frame is brought to vertical position, said means comprising a horizontally extending member to which the rollers at the front of the frame only are mounted, means hingedly connecting said member to a rigid portion of the dolly, and a lever for manually swinging said member on its hinges for raising and lowering the frame, and means for locking the lever with the frame in raised position.

9. In a structure as set out in claim 4, supporting arms at the upper end of said upright frame arranged and adapted for lateral extension beyond opposite Sides of the frame behind the flat when in position, for adjustment to support various widths of ilats.

10. A dolly for handling stage scenery flats in upright position comprising a base frame with an upright rearwardly slanted frame at the front edge of the base frame, means for supporting a scenery flat against the front of the upright frame, floor rollers on the base frame supporting it for rolling about, and means for lowering the front only of the frame from the rollers to the oor to rest thereagainst and in which latter position the upright frame is brought to vertical position with the scenery lat in position for use in stage settings.

WILLIAM M. BASSETT. 

